Herb of the Month

Garlic / Lasun

(Botanical Name - Allium
Sativum)

Origin of Herbs:

The word garlic comes from Old English garleac,
meaning "spear leek."Garlic has been
highly valued for centuries all over the world for its
health-building qualities. It grows well in the cool climates
with dry weather.

The leaves are long, narrow and flat like grass. The bulb
(the only part eaten) is of a compound nature, consisting of
numerous bulblets, known technically as 'cloves,' grouped
together between the membraneous scales and enclosed within a
whitish skin, which holds them as in a sac.

The flowers are placed at the end of a stalk rising direct
from the bulb and are whitish, grouped together in a globular
head, or umbel with an enclosing kind of leaf or spathae, and
among them are small bulbils.,

Healing
power and curative properties :

In herbal Medicine, garlic has been traditionally used for
Weight loss, asthma, deafness leprosy, bronchial congestion,
arteriosclerosis that is hardening of arteries- fevers, worms
and liver gall bladder trouble. Garlic is good for the heart, a
food for the hair a stimulant to appetite, a strength-giving
,used in Leucoderma, leprosy, piles, worms, Catarrhal disorder,
asthma and cough.

In recent times have confirmed several ancient beliefs about the
healing value of this herb. These experiments have in fact
proven much greater power of garlic than known previously.
The unpleasant odour in garlic is due to its sulphur content.
This mineral is content to a greater degree in its volatile oil,
which has remarkable medicinal values.

Weight
loss / Obesity :

Garlic acts as an appetite suppressant as it gives the brain
signals of satiety when it is eaten. Hence, a person would be
less inclined to eat. Garlic also increases the body’s
metabolism. Garlic is supposed to stimulate the nervous system
to release the adrenalin hormone – thereby increasing the
metabolism. High metabolism can in turn help you to burn
calories and lose weight.

Since garlic helps in weight loss, it can use in cooking or can
also use on salads. Eating garlic bread and other garlic
products can also be helpful for losing
weight.

Chest diseases:

Garlic has proved effective in certain diseases of the chest. It
reduces foetidity or stinking of the breath in pulmonary
gangrene. Garlic is also useful in the treatment of
tuberculosis.

In Ayurveda a decoction of
garlic boiled in milk is considered a wonderful drug for
tuberculosis. One gram of garlic , 250ml of milk and a
liter of water are boiled together till it reduces to one fourth
of the decoction. It should be taken thrice a day .Taken in
sufficient quantities ,it is marvelous remedy for pneumonia.

Asthma:

Three cloves of garlic boiled in milk can be used every night
with excellent results in asthma. A pod of garlic is peeled
,crushed and boiled in 120ml pure malt vinegar .It is strained
after cooling and an equal quantity of honey is mixed and
preserve in a clean bottle. One or two teaspoon of this syrup
can be taken with fenugreek decoction in the evening and before
retiring. This has been found effective in reducing the severity
of asthmatic attacks.

Garlic is one of the most effective remedies for lowering blood
pressure. Pressure and tension are reduced because it has the
power to ease the spasm of the small arteries. It also modifies
the pulse and modifies the heart rhythm.

Cholesterol builds up in fatty plaques on the artery walls, and
so it is believed to be a major factor in the onset of heart
disease. Garlic reduces high cholesterol levels helps to keep
the heart healthy

Garlic is a world-renowned remedy for rheumatic pains. Besides
rheumatism, it can also be used as a good treatment for
sciatica, lumbago and arthritis. The best part about garlic is
that it can be taken raw or in the normal cuisine. Its excess
does not have any side effects on the body.

Following a recent study a West German doctor claims that garlic
may prevent heart attack. Garlic helps to break up cholesterol
in the blood vessels, thereby preventing any hardening of
arteries which leads to high blood pressure and heart attack If
a patient takes garlic after a heart attack, the cholesterol
level comes down .Though the earlier damage may not be repaired
,the chances of new attacks are reduced.

Blood
Disorders:

The herb is regarded as a rejuvenator. It has been found to help
remove toxins revitalise the blood, stimulate circulation and
promote intestinal flora, or colony of bacteria that prevent
infection by harmful bacteria.

Garlic contains small
amounts of selenium and germanium. Selenium is believed to
prevent abnormal blood clotting, to normalize blood pressure,
and to prevent infections. Germanium is being investigated for
its reputed ability to retard or prevent the growth of some
cancers. Garlic also contains a number of biochemical compounds,
such as allicin (considered to have antifungal and antibiotic
properties), alliinase, allyls, allithiamine (this makes vitamin
B1 more effective), and alliin (this makes proteins easier to
digest). Allicin, left alone, turns into a substance that some
researchers have called "ajoene," believed to be
responsible for garlic' s ability to inhibit blood clotting as
effectively as aspirin.

Skin
Disorder:

Garlic has been used successfully for a variety of skin
disorders. Pimples disappear without a scar when rubbed with raw
garlic several times a day. Even very persistance forms of acne
in some adults, have been healed with garlic. Garlic rubbed over
ringworm, gives quick relief. The area is burnt by the strong
garlic and later the skin peels off and the ring worm is cured.

Garlic has a pronounced aphrodisiac effect. It is a tonic for
the loss of sexual power from any causes. It also treats sexual
debility and impotency caused by overindulgence in sex and
nervous exhaustion from dissipating habit .It is said to be
especially useful to old men with nervous tension and falling
libido.